The difference between attachment parenting, and natural/consensual living. - Page 2

[velochic]

North and everyone else - it's refreshing to see a thread like this. So many times it's a matter of absolutes for people and they lump it all together under a convenient label. For a group of people who "collectively" eschew labels, AP parents often don't see the irony of calling all of "this" ("this" being those items named above) "AP". I totally agree that being attached to your baby, respecting their needs from their first moments in this world is what it's all about. It often includes natural living, almost always consensual, but it doesn't have a defined set of parameters. If it's a checklist, I doubt anyone could tick every single criterion.

[mammal_mama]

Originally Posted by wannabe

Isn't AP all about responsivesness (quickly and consistently responding to the child) rather than a laundry list, which is why co-sleeping isn't a requirement? In that sense it wouldn't be what the diaper was made of but how often you change it that made you more or less AP.

Yes, I agree that it's all about responsiveness.

A hospitalisation for whooping cough would play havoc with your attachment, not to mention those painful IVs.

Huh? I don't get the connect -- unless you're making some kind of plug for the DPT shot?

[mammal_mama]

I think these clarification threads are very necessary.

I still remember reading a thread where someone said something like, "What's the point in breastfeeding, if you're going to feed them McDonald's later?" -- as if not having the perfect organic diet for the rest of their lives would totally undo any good that breastmilk and the nursing relationship had given our children in their early years.

I realize there may be some who believe so fervently in organics and sustainable living, that to them it really is all or nothing. But most of us move forward in steps, not leaps.

I think Attachment Parents are probably more likely to take an interest in Natural Family Living and sustainable practices. We've already diverged from the norm and started questioning everything. When those with a financial interest in our buying into the idea that everyone "has to have" their product (whether the product is a vaccine, a "specially formulated" baby food, or a plastic gadget), reassure us that their product has been tested and is safe, we question, question, question. We no longer buy into the status quo.

So I definitely see the connection between AP and NFL -- and also between AP and Consensual Living (since you have to be able to question conventional views of authority and human nature in order to embrace Gentle Discipline, so you're already somewhat open to other ways of looking at the parent-child relationship) . It's just good to remember that they're not all one and the same thing.